Pews are replaced by lawn on Easter

Informal service held at the beach

Rather than sit in pews, those who attended Catalyst Ventura's Easter morning church service sat on bicycles, lawn chairs, blankets or, as in the case of three young boys, in a tree.

A group of about 150 gathered on the lawn across from Surfers Point on the Ventura beach promenade at 10 a.m. Sunday and listened to the Rev. Chris Hall give his Easter message from a raised stage. A six-piece rock-gospel band backed him up with upbeat tunes and singers asking the crowd to "put your hands together!"

Doug Sumeriski, 28, of Ventura rides his bike on the promenade every morning, so when he saw the service, he stopped his bike and listened for a while.

"I think public religion is cool," he said. "It's not like, pushy. Everybody's free to join if they want."

Two-year-old Catalyst Ventura Christian church is informal by design, according to Hall, who said the church's aim is to bring the good word to those who may be soured or uninterested in pulpits and stained glass.

"The whole idea of doing it at Promenade Park is to create a neutral environment for people who would be uncomfortable going to a traditional church," Hall said. "This is for people who have been hurt by the church or who wouldn't even consider attending church to explore faith and the Bible."

With saltwater pooling under every step he made, one surfer carried his board in from the waves, then sat on a concrete divider and listened, the board laid across his legs. At one point, he bent his head over his board in prayer.

Another, who had driven in from Valencia to surf, stood his board on end in the grass and began peeling off the top of his wet suit. The 58-year-old, who identified himself only as Steve, said surfing conditions were poor but open church was "great."

"Being a Christian, I think it's great to have it out here," he said. "People walking by may be nonbelievers. This may get them to believe."

Hall, 35, is targeting a younger audience, many of them disenchanted with their church experience, he said. He calls them the "over-churched."

"The over-churched are the people who maybe had been active in their church community when they were younger, but they've had a negative experience or have been burned out," he said. "Or they were so saturated in faith, they walked away from it."

The congregation, which is now about 200 strong, started in the Century 16 theaters off Johnson Drive. Then it moved to a multi-use building called Epic Ventura, also on Johnson Drive.

During the second Easter Catalyst has had in Promenade Park, Hall told the Easter story with a 21st century spin.

As he related the story of the apostles discovering that Jesus was no longer in his tomb, he speculated about how they must have "freaked out" to realize their friend had risen from the dead. He spoke about the reaction of John the Apostle upon discovering the tomb empty.

"Maybe he thought Ashton Kutcher was going to punk him," Hall said, referring to the TV star known for elaborate pranks.

If children squirm in their seats, they are unleashed into a play area behind the adults. It's to be expected, said Catalyst Sunday School teacher Jennifer Branson.

"They have a child's attention span," she said.

Three young boys perched in the low-hanging branches of a tree found their experience absorbing enough to stay for the entire hourlong service, but other younger children played with hula hoops, bubbles and jump ropes that the Sunday School teachers brought with them and distributed at a booth set up for the kids.

Watching the children play is part of the fun for Bruce Thompson, 59, of Ventura, who attended last year's Easter service and enjoyed it so much that he returned this year with a Bible and lawn chair.

"I like the informal atmosphere," he said. "I come down to the beach to walk anyway."

Hall said he doesn't know if he's found the right formula to get more people to come to church, but he thinks it's a start.

"People want a spiritual experience on a Sunday morning," he said. "Not just a bunch of people going through the motions."